Victorian Fun at the Beach

It's always delightful to come across photographs of nineteenth-century people having fun. We're so used to the image of the stern, still Victorians that as soon as you see them relaxed and smiling, they almost stop seeming like Victorians. Suddenly they look like they could be people we know, just in costume, and the gap between 2014 and 1894 seems suddenly a lot less. 

These stereographs, from the Atlantic City beach in the 1890s, have quite a bit of that wonderful "just people in costume" feel. 

New York Public Library

1894. Source

New York Public Library

1890. Source

The crowd shots are especially good when you use the NYPL's zoom-in feature: 

On Golden Sand

Finally! I'm settled and Interneted once more, in a shiny new city ready to start a masters--in Photographic Preservation and Collections Management, no less! 

But, more importantly, time for some photographs! How about starting with another visit to the beach?

From various archives-- see source links.

State Library and Archives of Florida

Kids playing on the beach, Sarasota, Florida, 1953. Source

National Library of New Zealand

People doing their best with a silver of beach, Oriental Bay, Wellington, NZ, c. 1930s. Source

State Library and Archives of Florida

A woman on Palm Beach, Florida, 1896. Source

By the Seashore

In honour of it being summer (at least in some hemispheres), and the fact that I spent all yesterday at the beach... another series of people enjoying themselves in the sand (first here). There's an endless supply of great beach pics, and more to come (although searching 'beach' in the LIFE photo archives can be disconcerting... you're looking at pictures of people sunbathing and playing, and then bang, there's crashed planes and dead bodies on the beach at Normandy!).

The moral of these photos is-- people really get up to all kinds of stuff at the beach!

Making a sandman on the beach, Florida, 1964. Source

A day at the beach, Australia, c. 1930s. Source

Playing in the water, 1897, NYC. Source

An American sailor and a native sorting seashells on the beach, apparently a popular pastime. Gilbert Islands, 1944. Source

Winner of men's novelty bathing suit contest at a beach party, California, 1947. I'm pretty sure he's supposed to look that stupid, from everyone's faces. Source

Hanging out at the beach with the dog, c. 1935, Australia. Source

Playing leapfrog, 1937, Australia. Source

Push-ups in a barrel. What, don't you do this? 1897, US. Source

A broken leg can't keep a real surfer from surfing. 1950.  Source

Part Two. Source

And he's off. Sadly the series ends here. No part of this seems like a good idea to me, but what do I know? Source

Dancing on the beach. In France, 1942, for some reason. Source

A couple waiting for the photographer to stop shining the light on them, Copacabana Beach, Rio, Brazil, 1941. Source

A butler at the beach, serving a hot dog to an actress (Buff Cobb (?) ), 1946. Source

Beach bonfires, California, 1948. Source

Beach umbrellas, Cliffside Beach, Nantucket, 1950s. Source

At the Beach

Wonderful photos of fun at the beach!

Atlantic City beach, c. 1905. Source

Exercise on the beach... with dachshund! 1935. Source

'Spruce Girls', in wood veneer bathing suits as a promotion for Gray Harbour Lumber. Washington, 1929. Source

A day at the beach, Australia, c.1938. Source

A woman riding on a turtle, Australia, c. 1930. Source

Women mocking a sign requiring full bathing suits, Florida, 1934. Source

Frolicking in the water, Vancouver Island, c. 1958. Source